Dave Bautista has a net worth of $16 million as an American actor, professional mixed martial artist, and professional wrestler. Bautista began his career as a professional fighter, but he later became a successful actor. His career has earned him many fans in both the film industry and the world of professional fighting.
Early Life
David Michael Bautista Jr. was born on January 18, 1969 in a Washington, D.C. suburb. His parents are of Greek and Filipino descent, respectively. Bautista later stated that he grew up in a rough neighborhood and that murders were common right outside his door. He also discussed the financial difficulties his family faced when he was a child. Bautista was soon living a life of crime. He became a car thief at the age of 13 and later moved away from his parents to pursue a criminal career.
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Later, he got a job as a bouncer for a nightclub, but things went wrong when he severely injured two patrons in a fight. Bautista was arrested and charged as a result of the incident. Before getting into wrestling, Bautista worked as a lifeguard. He later started bodybuilding.
Fighting Career
Bautista began wrestling professionally in 1999 after attending the Wild Samoan Training Center wrestling school. Although he quickly entered professional wrestling, he later returned to Muay Thai, Eskrima, and Jiu-Jitsu training. In terms of the latter, he received his training from Cesar Gracie.
Although Bautista signed with the WWF in 2000, he began his career with Ohio Valley Wrestling. He was fighting under the alias “Leviathan” at the time. He was undefeated in his first few fights before losing to Kane and Steve Austin. Before being promoted to WWE’s main roster, he won the OVW Heavyweight Championship.
Bautista did not appear in a WWE televised event until 2002. He changed his stage name to “Deacon Batista” at this point. Bautista used to team up with D-Von and win a lot of fights. Bautista eventually betrayed D-Von, resulting in a long feud. He joined Evolution alongside Ric Flair in 2003. Evolution would go on to become an extremely successful team, winning numerous championships over the years. The Evolution team eventually became strained as Triple H saw Bautista as a threat.
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Bautista won the World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania 21 after turning on Evolution teammates.
The event drew over 1.09 million PPV purchases, a feat attributed largely to Bautista’s popularity among fans. The reign as World Heavyweight Champion that followed was the longest in history, lasting 282 days. Finally, a recurring triceps tear forced him to withdraw from the championship.
Dave Bautista’s only MMA fight was against Vince Lucero in 2010. Bautista won the first round via TKO.
Despite the fact that his arm required surgery, he returned to WWE to compete for the championship once more. In the years that followed, he won and lost the title several times, and he battled arm injuries. He famously used this to his advantage when he used a phony arm vice to fool Randy Orton into letting down his guard. Although he continued to fight for the next few years, Bautista’s injuries began to catch up with him. He legitimately compressed his L1 spine after a match against John Cena and later appeared in a wheelchair.
Acting
Dave Bautista has been an actor for a long time. He appeared as an alien villain in Smallville’s sixth season. He made a brief appearance in the Australian soap opera Neighbours in 2009. He made an appearance in the action-comedy series Chuck in 2010. During the next few years, he appeared in films such as Relative Strangers and Wrong Side of Town. Bautista found further success in the film industry with the 2012 film The Man with the Iron Fists, in which he was able to showcase his martial arts skills.
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His biggest break in the film industry came in 2014, when he landed a major role in Guardians of the Galaxy. Dave Bautista used this role to showcase his acting abilities and force Hollywood to take him seriously. In 2015, he played the villainous assassin Mr. Hinx in the James Bond film Spectre. After collaborating with Georges St-Pierre in Kickboxer, Bautista made another notable film appearance as a replicant in Blade Runner 2049.
He later returned to the role of Drax in 2017’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. Bautista was cast in Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame after joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Bautista was cast in a major role in the upcoming film Dune, which was announced in 2019. Bautista has also appeared in a number of other films and television shows.
Personal Life
Dave Bautista married for the first time in 1990, and the couple had two daughters before divorcing in 1998. He married his second wife that year. They divorced in 2006 after having one son together. He married again in 2015, this time to a professional pole dancer, and divorced her in 2019. Bautista published his autobiography, Batista Unleashed, in 2007, in which he discusses details from his wrestling career as well as his personal life.
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